Black Lawyers, White Courts: The Soul of South African Law

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In the struggle against apartheid, one often-overlooked group of crusaders was the coterie of black lawyers who overcame the Byzantine system that the South African Nationalist government established oftentimes explicitly to block the paths of its black citizens from achieving justice.

Now, in their own voices, we have the narratives of many of those lawyers as recounted in a series of oral interviews. Black Lawyers, White Courts is their story and the story of resistance that has until now gone untold.

Kenneth Broun conducted interviews with twenty-seven black South African lawyers. They were asked to tell about their lives, including their family backgrounds, education, careers, and visions for the future. In many instances they also discussed their years in prison or exile, or under house arrest. Most told of both education and careers interrupted because of the ongoing struggle.

These stories of the individual and professional achievements of black lawyers in South Africa resonate beyond the boundaries of geography, circumstances, or race.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews